Are cats social creatures, or would it be more accurate to describe them as asocial, solitary hunters who occasionally—as when “adopted” by humans—learn to exploit other lifeforms for food?
Many behavioral scientists are willing to say, categorically, that cats have few if any social instincts. Others say that cats have repertoires of social behavior that humans may just fail to notice, the way people thought of herons as solitary birds until they’d observed that, after the day’s solitary fishing, herons roost in big, messy, noisy crowds.
The position of this web site is that my cats are definitely social, and this makes them much more interesting than the average cat, who is almost completely asocial. (Don’t feel bad, though, if your pet is asocial. One behavior pattern that’s typical of social cats is respecting another cat’s claim to “own” a human, so in some cases asocial cats may be more rewarding pets!)
A trend this web site has observed, however, is for cat rescuers to pick up on the idea that “social cats are more interesting” and describe cats as “social” in the absence of any evidence that a cat has displayed social behavior with other cats. This web site does not want to encourage confusion. Most cats do have some social instincts but their instincts consist mainly of mating and rearing kittens, avoiding one another's space, and fighting without killing each other.
The following social behavior inventory is preliminary, based on anecdotes rather than data. It does, however, provide a factual basis for describing a cat as social. I’d say an animal is social if it scores over 5 points on this inventory. Score 1 point for items for which another point score is not given.
1…Given a choice of places to rest and hang out, cat chooses to hang out with one or more other cats.
2…Cat frequently naps in physical contact with another cat when the weather is not cold.
3…Cat chooses to nap close to another cat of matching coat color. (This is most obvious when spring kittens from different litters start to mingle. Over time cats’ relationships may change, as when color-matched cats are separated and remaining cats become nap buddies.)
4…Most of the time, no matter how much space is available to them, cats can be found within ten yards of one or more cat friends.
5…If their size permits, cats will share your lap.
6…Cats may line up and take turns, sometimes in a recognizable order, for grooming and petting.
7…Cats share food. When one cat raises its head from a food dish, that’s another cat’s cue to eat out of that dish. In one meal each cat may get some food from each dish, or may not, but in any case they don’t avoid food their buddies have touched. (This is not always a pro-survival behavior. Social cats can pick up FIV by sharing food with infected friends.)
8…If cats are allowed to hunt, they bring prey home to show off and share. The successful hunter may guard its prey while reenacting the hunt for a few minutes but, eventually, if all the cats consider the prey edible, all of them will get at least a taste.
9…Cats may learn systematically to divide large squirrels or rabbits, and may offer a portion to their human.
10…If cats frequently catch prey they don’t want to eat, they may use it to tame other animals. Some social cats like to have a pet—a slower-witted cat, or some other animal. Some of mine have made pets of possums. (Adult cats and possums usually respect each other, but possums trained by cats would come and go on cues and were a lot more willing to come close to the cats and me than I would ever have encouraged an animal of a composter species to be.)
*11…Cats regularly and intentionally hunt as teams. (2 points.)
*12…Even asocial cats will stay, at a healthy distance from each other, near steady sources of food, but they seem to tolerate each other rather than bond. Multiple cats who share a house with humans and perhaps other animals, each choosing to hang out in a different room and, if possible, eat from a different dish and use a separate litter box, are well-behaved but asocial. (Not antisocial; they don’t dislike each other any more than they like each other.) (0 points.)
13…Cats unmistakably recognize family members even after months or years apart. (Cats’ memory capacities seem to vary, and cats may lose memories after a fever or full anesthesia.)
14…Male and female cats pair-bond and choose to spend time together, other than courtship/mating. Males may or may not leave their “wives” when other females are in heat, but choose to stay near them in the absence of pressing reasons to stray. Some social cats’ behavior toward their chosen mates can resemble that of human teenagers--sighing when their significant others pass by their homes, cherishing souvenirs such as the cushions their mates sat on...
15…If cats are separated due to illness, post-surgical care, etc., they will maintain communication through a door or window when possible. Healthy cats may offer sick cats food treats. Sometimes an older or healthier cat will actively encourage a sick one to cooperate with treatment.
*16…Kittens spend much of their waking lives racing, chasing, and play-fighting with one another. (0 points.)
17…However, adult social cats may play, gently and carefully, with kittens (not limited to their own offspring) long after they’ve outgrown play-fighting with one another.
*18…Most cat fights aren’t serious. A growl or glare is usually as effective as a slap or nip for reminding other cats of a cat’s boundaries. When cats do grapple, they’re likely to be playing, do no harm, and hold no grudges. Nevertheless, a playful kitten perfecting a fighting move may inflict enough nips, over a week or two, to add up to a nasty infected wound. This is actually typical of asocial cats and social cats alike. (0 points.)
*19…Cats may fight, even seriously, in defense of friends, feline or human. All cats usually avoid any possibility of a serious fight but some (not all) social cats will tear into a larger, more dangerous animal in defense of a friend. Owners observing this behavior often say "He seemed like a completely different cat," and "I never would have known her." (2 points)
*20…Social cats may decide that a stray cat, whether it literally strayed from a home where it’s missed or was cruelly thrown out on the street, is a friend and guest. If so, you may want to try not feeding the visitor to encourage it to go home. No use. Your cats will make sure that it eats before they do. And if they want to snuggle up beside their guest, any orders you might give about its not coming inside your house, onto your porch, etc., will apply as long as you’re looking.
21…Some (not all) female social cats just seem to like nursing kittens. If spayed, they adopt kittens and induce lactation.
*22…Some (not all) female social cats practice birth control. How consciously they know that these are effective birth control techniques is unclear…Three ways unspayed female cats control the number of pregnancies are (1) mating exclusively with neutered males, (2) rolling in pennyroyal or other plants that release volatile oils containing phytoestrogens, and (3) extended lactation—allowing kittens to continue nursing for up to seven months. Social cats are capable of choosing to have kittens only once a year, or not at all. Why they make such choices is also unclear. They may feel that the family has reached the right size, or may be reacting to unfavorable conditions like malnutrition or chemical pollution. (2 points)
*23. Normal cats seclude themselves and their kittens. Social cats may seclude their kittens for the first few weeks or, if two or more give birth around the same time, they may rear the kittens communally from birth. Some social cats share a den and give birth together. When kittens start to explore the world social cats often integrate litters and share responsibility for their kittens, leaving one cat to mind the kittens while others do other things. Kittens are usually baby-sat by another mother cat, but may be left for supervision by a male cat, older kitten, or human. (2 points)
*24. Social cats may develop specialized social roles. In a social cat family one female may do most of the mothering while another does most of the hunting. (2 points)
*25. Normal male cats are terrible fathers. At best they ignore their young; at worst they kill and eat them, apparently in the hope that this will interest the mother in starting a new litter. Social male cats, however, tolerate kittens or may positively help to rear them. Female cats normally don’t mate again until kittens start to eat solid food, and won’t have more kittens while nursing thir present litter. The alley-dwelling ancestors of my current cats were recognized as something special partly because the father brought food to the mother and kittens almost daily. (2 points)
*26. Social cats seem to surprise other animals and may have above-average abilities to communicate with other animals. Some social cats can and will herd other animals, even bigger animals such as dogs—e.g., bringing these animals to their humans to find out what to do about them. Some social cats are intimidated by other animals, just as normal cats are, and a few may attack an animal they perceive as dangerous (or edible). However, if your cats lead stray dogs or chivy box turtles to your door, you are living with social cats. This behavior requires teamwork. (2 points)
27. Cats unmistakably mourn if a buddy or even a pet dies. (When a human dies, even asocial cats are usually stressed by the upheaval. I’m talking here about a cat crying when its pet possum was hit by a truck.)
28. Cats show something like the horror humans feel at the sight of a dead friend or pet, may seem relieved if the departed animal is buried, and may even bury a departed friend’s body, themselves.
29. Cats are capable of “lying” in more complex ways than merely sneaking up on prey or playmates. I’ve seen a social kitten take prey away from the sibling who actually caught it and bring the prey home as if it were their own.
30. Cats may use simple imitative or symbolic behavior to reenact an exciting moment or otherwise communicate. A burying gesture may be used to “describe” anything the cat dislikes as “nasty.” Gestures that suggest opening your door may be used to say “I have something to show/tell you.” An imitation of a thief walking furtively away from the house became one of my cats’ “word” for trespassers, but although she didn’t use that sign to refer to cats she made no distinction that I could perceive between a man, a dog, or a deer straying through our yard. Cats’ sign language is less extensive than humans’ or monkeys’, but it develops through social interaction in social relationships. A sign that got a message through a thick human head is remembered and repeated.
Probably four out of five cats are basically asocial, though some are capable of being “socialized” if they’re adopted into a social cat family. I suspect our Samantha was an example of this pattern, as were some of Magic’s foster kittens. They learned that hanging out together offered safety and convenience, may have followed cues to participate in team hunting or co-parenting, may have bonded with an adoring mate, etc., but these behaviors weren’t natural for them and would fade if not reinforced. I’ve assigned 2 points to behaviors I don’t believe an asocial animal would be able to learn, 1 point to behaviors that cats who are intelligent though not particularly social can learn.
For what it’s worth, of all the social cats who’ve lived with me, none has done all of the things that call for special social instincts. All have done some of these things, but none has done all.
These Petfinder cats seem to be social. At least they come in pairs or small groups...
Zipcode 10101: Lucy & Tripp from New Haven
Their web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/hammy-bailey-bean-bear-54604965/ga/atlanta/paws-and-whiskers-ga764/
No comments:
Post a Comment